Wedlock Reaping
by JusticeIsHere
Summary: *MAJOR AU* There are no Hunger Games, and 5 years ago The President decreed that every year, every boy and girl the age of 18 would have their names put once into glass balls separated boy/girl. A boy's name would be drawn, then a girl's. Your match, is who you'll be marrying. Who will Katniss be reaped to?*Some ages will be altered to 18* This is my first story, sorry if it sucks!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my fir****st story. I haven't got great grammar. Please ask if you don't understand anything. I'm hoping I don't disappoint!**

* * *

"Katniss! This is the last time I'm calling. Get down here! You're going to be late for your last day of school as a single woman." Wow. Prim really knows how to grace someone's morning._ Yes, throw the day I'm dreading in my face to get me up._

"Prim, I love you, but please shut your mouth!" I shout sleepily hopping out of bed.

I dress myself, already having a bad morning because she had to bring up my Wedlock reaping. I remember last years wed reaping.

* * *

_800 eighteen year old boys and girls, 400 of each, a rope separating the genders. Some not even from our own district for more variety, or maybe there was a shortage of boys/girls... Effie, the capitol woman who has hosted District 12's wed lock reaping since it started 5 years ago, when the president wasn't satisfied with the variety of breeding, is bouncing around stage. A boy's name is drawn, and then a girl. They are now wed locked. 1-3 weeks later they will be wedded. This happens to each and every person the age of 18. They're required to have a child birthed, or on it's way before the end of their wedding anniversary. Only 2 children in all, one boy, one girl. If, say for example you have a boy as your first child, then another boy on it's way, you are forced to abort it. Fucked up? That's our government._

* * *

I snap out of it and make my way down the stairs.

"You alright?" my mom asks.

"Well tomorrow I'm going to have to call some random boy my fiancé, and in less than a month I'll no longer be an Everdeen. I'm having an absolute blast, mother." I snap sarcastically.

Prim makes a cat noise that sounds along the lines of "RIAYUR" and makes a clawing motion. I glare at her.

"I'm going to school. Bye."

* * *

I make it to school and approach the girls locker room, with my luck, I have P.E. first period. Who cares, P.E. is the least of my worries.

"Hey," Madge calls to me as I walk out to the track. Great, the guys are out here as well. One of these boys could possibly my future husband. Yippee. "Hey," I mumble back.

"What's got ya down, Katniss?" she asks.

"Well I was just thinking one of those boys could be my future husband and that I hate my life, the usual."

"Isn't it exciting!" she shouts.

"No! It's horrifying!"

"You're right we'd much rather have hot d4 boys!"

"What'd I hear about District 4?"

Annie jogs up to us, I could see how she'd be interested in district 4. After all, she used to live there until both of her parents died and she was adopted by the florist when she was 13.

"We were just speaking about how we'd much prefer being reaped to a D4 boy!" Madge explains.

"I'd actually prefer not being reaped at all…" I mumble as Annie and Madge start talking about boys.

"EVERDEEN, UNDERSEA, CRESTA, DID I JUST HEAR ONE OF YOU CALL MY QUARTERBACK A SEXY MONGOOSE?" Coach Haymitch shouts to us, obviously drunk.

I don't know how, but the boy's coach has ears like a hawk, and can hear if they aren't sweating enough some how. When he says quarterback, my best friend, Gale Hawthorne, trots over to coach.

"You call me a sexy mongoose, coach?" Gale asks him, confused.

"Not me fool, these girls!" Haymitch gestures to Annie, Madge and I.

Gale raises his eyebrows, and Madge blushes like a tomato. I burst out laughing which causes people to give me weird looks. "That," I interrupt myself with laughter "was all Madge and Annie!"

"NUH UH!" they both shout at the same time.

"Alright, alright! I want a mile out of all 3 of you for arguing! Get on it!" Haymitch demands, and we all groan in unison.

As we begin our mile, Madge and Annie start chatting, and I hear my name, "Huh?" I say. "I asked if you wanted to stay the night at my house tonight." Madge states.

"Oh, sure." I say focusing on the boys playing soccer. There are a few boys that stand out:

Hanson Arkly: The creepiest guy on earth, he's got a pale, pasty face and still plays with children's game cards.

Jem Pascal: The "hottest!" guy in school, according to Madge. He's also the son of the Jeweler, and apparently, is loaded with cash.

And Gale. Out of all the boys, I'd be okay if we got reaped to each other. We've been best friends since we were young, and everyone assumed we were always meant to be.

He notices me looking at him and stops to smile and wave at me. The other team kicks the ball right past him, and into the goal he was supposed to be defending. "GREAT HAWTHORNE, YOU COULDN'T WAIT UNTIL LATER TO FLIRT WITH EVERDEEN!?" his team mates shout to him. Gale blushes and I pretend to not know what's going on.

* * *

I've packed my bag for Madge's house, and just as I'm about to walk out the door, my mother stops me. "Katniss," she calls for me, "I've got something for you." she finishes, smiling. She pulls out a handful of cash and places it in my hands.

"It's 50 dollars, I saved it for you, so you could buy a dress."

I haven't even thought about the dress. For once, I'm thankful my mom is here for me.

"Thanks, mom." I give a genuine smile and she pulls me in for a hug.  
"Be safe at Madge's." she says.

"I will."

* * *

**A/N Please review if you would like for me to continue! If you notice anything wrong and need me to fix it, please tell me. Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This is chapter 2, I'm scared it's not as good as you guys would like it to be. Love all the reviews so much, even the not so nice ones! Excuse grammatical errors, please. If there's something you don't understand PM me or something :)**

* * *

I step out my door, I think maybe my mother and I will once again have a normal relationship_. Probably not_. I run into Gale on my way to Madge's.

"Hey Catnip, where you heading?" he asks, beginning to walk with me.

"Over to Madge's house, I'm sleeping there tonight, she claims we're 'spending our last hours as single women together'" I say, imitating her voice.

"That's the cute girl, right?"

"Madge?"

"Yeah the blonde girl you were running with."

"Well you better get over her quick because chances of you and her are quite slim." I say, frustrated.

"I never said I wanted to be with her, Katniss. Calm down."

I sigh. "I'm sorry Gale, I've just been on edge because of this whole reaping thing. Don't take what I'm saying personal." He chuckles.

"Scared of becoming someone's lover, are we catnip?" he teases.

"I am not scared! I'm just not…" I think quickly for the correct word, "_interested_."

He stops walking and laughs out loud, watching me as I go.

* * *

"Katniss! You're here, we can now begin our single ladies ceremony." Madge exclaims.

_What is she talking about?_

"Ladies, Katniss has arrived!" Madge shouts upstairs.

"Ladies?" I say, "I thought it was just you, Annie, and I."

"Well, I thought I might invite more girls!" I just groan in reply.

When I get upstairs, I think I walk into hell. It's not just friends sleeping over, it's a full out "SLUMBER PARTY!" as Glimmer and Delly put it. I completely ignore them, Madge, Glimmer, Annie, and Delly. They're painting their nails for the reaping tomorrow. I'm playing solitaire by myself, when something they say catches my attention.

"Let's list top three on our reap list!" Glimmer shouts.

"I'll start!" Delly screeches in her annoying nasally voice.

"First, obviously, JEM PASCAL! He's hot and rich! Cha ching! Second, um, that baker's boy! The one with the hot older brothers…Peeta! Yeah, him!"

I think about Peeta… Mellark? He's got sandy blonde hair and sometimes I catch him staring at me in the hallways. I think it's because he's disgusted by me, his mother once called me a seam brat, so I assume he thinks the same.

"Oh and third, if he had more money, I would LOVE to be with Gale, he's super hot…for a seam boy!" Delly looks straight at me, and all of a sudden, Annie's behind me.

"Don't mess with her today, you don't wanna ruin her pretty face for the reaping, she'll get what's coming to her soon." Annie whispers. I just nod my head and lay into my sleeping back, knowing they'd not be stupid enough to mess with my while I'm sleeping.

* * *

I wake up to Glimmer screaming. "YOU BURNT MY FACE DELLY. DO. YOU. KNOW. HOW. TO. WORK. A. STRAIGHT. NER ."

I chuckle and look through my bag, to find my $50. "Hey Madge, I need to go buy a dress. I'll see you at the reaping?"

"Of course not. The president _always_ sends the Mayor's children a variety of clothes on their reaping day. I have 50 brand new dresses. You're my size, take one of mine."

"I couldn-"

"YOU CAN." she says, shoving me into her closet. "Try them on, whichever one you like, keep. All the other girls have picked theirs. We'll do your make-up afterwards."

"But-"

"K"

She runs out before I can protest.

* * *

I've found the perfect dress, it's a silky, strapless, silver dress that matches my eyes. It hugs me at the top but flows down and ends at my knees. Madge provides me with some flats, and wraps pearls around my neck. Annie insists on leaving my hair down. She curls it, and lightly applies make-up to my eyes and cheek bones.

"DAYUM GURL, YOU LOOK GOOD!" Annie teases me.

"I'm sure all the boys will be swooning when they see her," Madge winks at me. I groan.

"Shouldn't we get going, the reaping starts in an hour." I say, trying to change the subject.

"OH MY! YES WE NEED TO HURRY!" Madge turns into panic mode, and shoves us out the door.

* * *

We're all pinned like caged animals roped off, boys on one side, girls on the other. I've now started feeling sick to my stomach. Annie, Madge and I, are all holding hands in a circle and Madge is preaching.

"Dear gods of reaping, please bless us with the sexy ass husbands we deserve. I know this is a little mean, but please keep Hanson away from us. He's always eyeballing Annie like she's a meatball, and it creeps us out. Amen."

"Amen." Annie and I repeat, continuing to burst out in laughter. The whole district must be staring at us, but for some reason, I don't care. Hm. Must be nerves.

"Welcome, welcome, to the 5th annual Wedlock reaping, my name is Effie Trinket and let's not waste time and get the ball, well, rolling!" She squawks. She reminds me of an annoying parrot. "Who will be blessed as our first couple of this year's reaping," she marches her way to the boy's sphere. Annie, Madge, and I are all hand in hand again.

"Cato Broche," she calls out. I don't recognize him as he walks up to the stage, he must be from out of the District. "and…Glimmer Sprock!" Glimmer squeals, "THANK HEAVENS HE'S HOT!"

She runs up the stage and into the arms of Cato, and they start making out. _What?_

They've just met and now they're making out? I hope I'm not reaped to someone like that.

"I give to you, District 12's first of the year couple!" everyone claps awkwardly and they make their way to the couple's roped off area. People are called left and right, but none stick out. But now I've heard something that's caught my attention.

"Hanson Arkly!" Effie calls. He makes his way up stage. "Well aren't you a…boy." she states, making a face. I'm suddenly scared. For me, for my friends, for any girl that ends up with him. He's known for stalking women, and secretly buying dirty magazines from peacekeepers illegally.

"Delly Cartwright!" Effie shrills.

I suddenly burst out into laughter, Annie joins me soon after. Madge just stares like we're the absolute most craziest girls in the district. And maybe we are. Delly is completely silent, and walks up to the stage. I notice tears rolling down her face. Hanson just smirks and nods his head slowly. When she makes it on the stage, he kisses her, right on the lips. She nearly throws up.

Effie continues calling names. About 5 names later, she calls out a boy named Finnick Odair. He's attractive, very attractive. He's obviously from District 4, he's got a swimmers body. "Finn…" Annie mumbles.

"You know him?" I ask. She might recognize him from her early teen years. She's about to answer, when she's interrupted by Effie.

"Annie Cresta!" Annie's face grows into a smile and she runs to the stage.

"WOOP WOOP WOOP!" Madge calls to her. "GET IT GET IT."

I elbow Madge, "Stop it. _You're embarrassing me_!" I groan. Annie runs into Finnick's arms and they hug for what seems like an eternity. Effie politely interrupts their embrace to escort them to the couple's area. Annie must have been close to him before her parents passed away.

"Why don't we switch things up, I'll do girls first these next few times!" Effie announces.

"Johanna Mason!" she calls. I don't recognize her, she's probably from District 5 or something. "Garret Scott!" a boy who looks just like Finnick, just a bit shorter meets her at the stage. They show no affection like most couples, and make their way to the couple's area.

"Katniss Everdeen!" Effie calls. I don't move. Madge squeals pushing me towards the stage , "Go get 'em tiger!" she shrills.

I step onto the stage and meet eyes with my sister, Prim. She smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

"Peeta Mellark!"

_He's going to hate me_. I think immediately. _I'm the seam brat_.

**(Peeta's point of view)**

_"DREAMS DO COME TRUE!" _my mind shrieks.

* * *

**A/N: Please review, if you'd like more. Feel free to tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I'm a little nervous about this whole thing. After all, this is my first story D:**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: 3****rd**** chapter guys! Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong/ have not made sense of something. I don't want anyone to be confused. So here it is, review if you'd like me to continue! **

**(Katniss' point of view.) **

He walks up and is staring at me with what I think is a smug grin. I think he's going to attack me, or something. I tense up, and I think he notices. His softens a bit and looks towards the crowd. Effie motions for us to shake our hands. "Seal the deal with a kiss maybe?" She says into the microphone, smirking.

_Why me?_

"No, we're fine, thank you though." Peeta saves the day. He probably just wouldn't want to kiss some seam slut. We make our way down to the couples section and I begin walking towards Annie, and when I turn, I see Peeta following me. He smiles.

"Can I help you?" I hiss.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you, we're just…"

"Don't apologize." I turn and continue to Annie.

Why am I being rude to Peeta? This isn't his fault. It's the capitol's. I should apologize to him.

"Hey Mrs. Mellark!" Annie shouts to me, smirking. I glare at her.

" I see you've been reaped to a District 4 boy, just like you and Madge have gossiped about. " I smirk at her and she blushes. Finnick laughs. "Annie and I's parents were…quite close." he says.

I take the hint from his facial expression that I shouldn't ask anymore questions. "Where's Peeta?" Annie asks somewhat out of the blue.

"I don't kn-" I'm interrupted by Effie.

"Madge Undersea!" she pauses for a second. I look to the boys pile and realize there are but two boys left.

1. A boy who looks like he could be related to that Johanna girl.

And

2. My best friend. Gale Hawthorne.

Effie stands there and just holds the paper in her hands, obviously trying to cause suspense. She leans in and says, "How does Madge Lemrit sound?" we all look at her confused, then realize she must mean the other boy. Madge's mouth opens slightly, a little confused.

"If you think it sounds good, well, sorry. Gale Hawthorne to the stage! And last, but certainly not least. Alice Werthawk and Marcus Lemrit!"

Both of my best friends will now be married. _At least the odds were in their favor. _

"Katniss?" I turn to meet bright blue eyes. It takes me a second to answer because they're so bright.

"Uh um, yeah?" I manage to get out. _What is wrong with me?_

"It's sort of like a tradition for the boy to take his fiancé out on their first date sort of thing after their reaping and uh I was just wondering if you still wanted to do that with um me?"

He's talking quickly so I hardly understand him. Since it is tradition, I guess I'll go with him. I guess I must have had a hesitated look on my face as well, so he adds, "Your friends and their fiancé's could come with us, if you'd like." he smiles shyly.

_Maybe I misjudged him. _

"We'd love to Peeta," Madge apparently has walked to us, with Gale by her side, a huge smile plastered on his face. "Right Gale?"

"Right," I don't think he was listening, he's just looking at me with a smug smile.

"The chances of us were quite slim," he lips to me, obviously imitating what I had said yesterday.

I look to Peeta, "I'll have to ask my mother." I lie.

* * *

"Alright you little lovebirds, go make beautiful babies!" is the sentence Effie uses to conclude the reaping. I shudder.

The second I had approached my mother, she insisted I go out with Peeta.

"Everyone ready to go?" Peeta asks. Annie, Finnick, Madge, and Gale all say something around "yeah." and I just nod.

"Where are we going?" Annie asks.

"There's this small diner like place a few streets down, it's really nice." Peeta answers politely leading the way.

We all follow him, I listen to Annie and Finnick babble on about 'the old days.' Gale and Madge are holding hands and walking. I look up at Peeta, there's a small smile on his face. He looks down for a second and meets my eyes. I look down quickly and blush, embarrassed he caught me looking at him.

I hear Gale snort behind me. I turn and glare. "Katniss, stop acting like Peeta has cooties, eventually you guys are going to be in bed together and hav-" Madge elbows him in the stomach. I mouth "Thank you." to her and she winks at me.

I look up at Peeta again, he's blushing. It's kinda cute. _Did I really just think that? _

"We're here," he says opening the door for us.

"Thank you," I say to him. He just smiles.

We're directed to a large round booth, and we're sat in this order. From right to left around: Gale, Madge, Me, Peeta, Annie, and Finnick at the end. Everyone is holding hands with their fiancé, except for Peeta and I. They're using their other hand to look at the menus.

"The salmon sounds good, is the fishing business still doing well Finn?" Annie asks Finnick.

"Yeah it's doing pretty well, especially shrimp" he tells her.

"Oooh shrimp! I heard that was delicious!" Madge exclaims.

"Want to order it?" Gale asks her smiling.

"If you want to, then yeah." she smiles, looking into his eyes.

I nearly gag. "What are you getting?" Peeta asks me.

"Oh uh, I don't know. I've never been out before." Peeta looks surprised.

"Well then we'll just have to get the best thing on the menu. Have you had steak before?" I shake my head.

"Then you'll have that? Could we get some help over here please?" Peeta calls out. A young waitress, probably a couple years younger than me, approaches. "What can I get you?" she asks.

"Grilled chicken for my _fiancé_, and I, please." Finnick flashes an award winning smile and the girl nearly faints right there. Gale clears his throat. She turns as if just noticing him, "and for you?" she asks writing down on her notepad. "We'll have the shrimp."

She turns to Peeta and I. "Steak please, well done, and could we have the sauce on the side?" Peeta smiles. I just look down at the table. "I'll have it all in a few moments." she says, making her way to the kitchen .

"So, Katniss, how has your day been?" Gale asks smirking at me. He's trying to piss me off.

"Just great, Gale, you?" I kick him under the table, or at least I tried, I end up kicking Madge. She yelps in pain. "Katniss, Annie, shall we head to the bathroom to… powder our noses…" she says through clenched teeth.

"My nose is perfectly fine." I say.

"COME." she basically growls at me.

I hear Annie do the cat sound "RIAYUR" and make the clawing motion. We follow Madge to the bathroom.

"Pay back is a bitch, Katniss." Madge says smiling. "Oh c'mon Madgey Wadgey, you won't have time for payback with all the time you spend making googoo eyes at Gale." I smirk.

"We'll see Katniss." Madge says walking out with a wink. I'm not scared of her though.

"Why did I have to come?" Annie asks confused. I just ignore her and walk back towards our table.

I scoot back into our booth next to Peeta, and Madge begins talking immediately, "Oh Gale! Aren't Peeta and Katniss just the CUTEST!" she exclaims. I look down, and hold all my anger in.

"You're so right Madge! Look at them, with their red cheeky weekies! They even blush in unison!" They both stare into each other's eyes and go "AWWW" and stare back at us.

"Um, Katniss?" Peeta whispers to me.

"What?" I whisper back to him.

"I'm sorry they're doing this to you. I promise I wouldn't have invited them if I knew they would tease you like this." he looks at me with puppy eyes.

"Why do you care what they say about me, I'm a seam slut."

Peeta's eyes get angry, it's a bit intimidating, "Don't say that about yourself."

"It's obvious you don't want to be with me. You think I'm a seam slut. Stop trying to hide it. I know what your mother says about me when my sister and I look at the cakes."

* * *

"_Seam brats, too poor to even afford a slice of cake, yet come and get their paw prints all over my display. Ugh"_

* * *

"What makes you think that?" he asks me.

I don't answer, I just lay my head down on the table.

"You mimt homme jess he," I murmur into the table.

"What?" he says.

"YOU DIDN'T WANT TO KISS ME." I basically shout. Everyone's looking at me. Even people at other tables. I smack my hands onto my face. _I can't believe I just said that out loud. _

"He wanted to kiss you, obviously, brainless." I turn and recognize the girl who said it. Johanna.

"Anyone with eyes could tell. He only said that because he knew you didn't want to, well at least not in front of the whole district."

"Probably wanted to do more." the guy next to her murmurs, the one who looks like Finnick. "Garret!"

"Hey Finn, matched with your old middle school crush I see?" he smirks.

"Yeah, everybody, this is my cousin, Garret Scott. Garret this is Gale, Madge, Katniss, Peeta and Annie. You're Johanna, right?"

"Yeah," she says, smiling at me. I don't like this. How would she know what Peeta wants to do. I'm about to ask him if what she said is true, but the lady walks up with our food. She notices Johanna and Garret standing next to our booth, "Do you guys want me to pull up a small table?" she asks.

"No we've already finished eating, your other waitress helped us out, we've got to go to the Justice Building and sort out or housing agreements, thank you though. See you all later," Garret waves to us, and Johanna winks at me as she walks out the door.

* * *

I just eat my food as everyone else talks with each other.

"So Annie, where are we going to stay?" Finnick asks her.

"Um well, I haven't thought about it. There's an apartment above the flower shop, I guess we could stay there, if you don't want to we can get a new house or something." Annie says, slightly unsure of what she's saying. "I'd love to stay in the apartment, Annie." he smiles and she sighs relief.

"Gale, we don't need to worry about anything, there's a house my father built the day I was born so I could live there if I got married. Since the wedlock reaping was announced, he had it remodeled and we'll be staying there, is that okay?" Madge tells Gale, her eyebrows raised.

"Perfect," he says smiling. Everyone looks at Peeta and I. Peeta clears his throat, "Um well, there are a couple of rooms above the bakery. My father had them cleared out so I'd be able to live up there with my wife. We can stay there, but if you're not okay with that I can try to start building a house near the bakery, I plan on working there full time after the end of school, if uh that's okay." I think he was going to say more but he stops and just looks at me.

Gale and Finnick burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I hiss at them. They both continue laughing, until Finnick stops, "Katniss, Peeta is basically bowing down to you," he continues laughing and adds, "he's a lovesick puppy, ain't that right Peeta?" Madge starts laughing too, and Annie is smiling.

"You guys are so immature." I duck under the table to get out, and when I do, I throw a handful of cash onto the table, "That's for the food. Goodbye." I run out the door.

* * *

I'm close to my house, running through the seam, when I finally hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Peeta. "Katniss," he says breathing hard. "I'm sorry." he's holding something in his hand, I look closer and see it's the money I threw.

"Is what she said true?"

"What?" he says, obviously confused.

"What Johanna said. You wanted to kiss me."

"Yes." he mumbles.

I look up at him, and realize how close we are. Suddenly, my head isn't thinking for me, my lips are. Our lips meet, and all I can think about is how soft his are.

**A/N: Oh dang guys. Katniss' and Peeta's first kiss, and Katniss is the one who initiated it. Saucy. Please tell me if something is confusing, or annoying, or bothering you. Review if I should continue, please? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games, but if I did... I'D BE SITTIN' ON TOP A GOLD MINE.**

* * *

I pull away almost immediately, feeling as if I made a fool of myself. Peeta looks at me expectantly, searching my face for emotion.

"I have to go," I turn quickly before he can reply and run as fast as I can, ruining the dress shoes Madge lent to me. I'm 20 feet from my house when I look back to make sure he's still not following me. I don't know if what I feel is relief, or disappointment to see that he's not there.

I bolt into my house and run straight up the stairs into my room, ignoring the calls from my sister and mother.

* * *

"Katniss, it's time to wake up. I don't care if you're angry or tired. Get up," Prim won't stop tugging at my blankets.I comply with her demand.

"Why do I need to be awake right now? There isn't school today."

"Trust me, if it was up to me, I'd let you sleep all you'd like, but you've got yourself a letter. It's from your... _fiance._" She puts extra emphasis on fiance, and holds a small envelope in front of her. I snatch from her hands and tear it open,

_"Dear Katniss,_

_I hope you're having a good morning by the time you're reading this. I just wanted to let you know that I respect all of the choices you make and that I would never force you into anything you wouldn't like. I understand that you need your space, so I wrote this letter for you instead of coming over uninvited. I feel there is a lot we need to discuss, and I would like if you'd come over for dinner tonight with your family, so our parents could discuss things and introduce each other If you do not wish to come, I understand. But please come in and tell us if you do not plan to come tonight. Until then,_

_Peeta Mellark"_

I fold up the letter and attempt to put it back into the envelope, but get frustrated when I can't. I toss it onto my dresser with force, that's when I notice the cash that I had thrown onto the table last night flutter onto the floor, each bill flattened nicely.

Prim stares at me for a minute then says something along the lines of, "Well spit it out!? What did the letter say?"

"He...he wants us to come over for dinner."

"Well are we?"

"No." I say blankly.

"Why not Katniss? He's a nice boy! Give him a chance! You really don't have any other options."

"You know what his mother thinks about seam kids, Prim."

"Oh c'mon, she'll get over it. I mean who could say no to a face like mine?" She tilts her head and flutters her eyelashes like a puppy. "Whatever. We'll go."

She lets out a yelp of satisfaction, when I interrupt her, "BUT! You need to go the bakery and tell them that we plan on... _attending,_" she agrees to do so, and tells me she'll ask what time we are to be there. She goes immediately. I look at my clock, it's 10 am. I figure thats enough time to meet up with Annie and talk or something.

I knock quietly on the florists door, and it slowly swings about a couple of minutes later, "Oh hello Katniss! You look mighty pretty today, did you do something different with your hair?" Mrs. Talf, Annie's adopted mother, squints her eyes at me, I assume to try to get a better look. The florist is very old, so I'm not surprised when she doesn't notice I wear my hair in a braid every single day.

"Yes ma'am," I say politely, not wanting to disrespect her, "thank you." She smiles at me then calls out for Annie. "She'll be down in just a second, would you like to come-"

Annie interrupts her as she walks out the door, "Nope sorry Mom, we're gonna head out, I'll be back in an hour or two. Love you." She kisses her on both cheeks then we head out on a walk.

* * *

"So, what happened after you and Peeta left?" Annie doesn't beat around the bush like she did when we were younger much anymore.

"Nothing worth talking about, honest." I try keep myself from scowling, but I was never good at my poker face, and she sees right through me.

"You kissed didn't you! I knew you had feelings for him! I knew it! Finnick owes me a secret!"

I try to look mad and make a face, but the square is crowded, and I run face first into the chest of someone I wasn't prepared to see until tonight.

"Oh, uh hey Katniss..."

* * *

**HEY. Okay, so I'm sorry for not updating this, for like... 6 months, but I don't know. I completely forgot about it until the day before yesterday, and just had time to start writing today. Please forgive me D:**

**I have not abandoned this story, don't worry :) **

**Feel free to review! (I think you're cooler if you do) and follow/fav. Oh and if you don't like the story, feel free to stop reading. Well... Happy Hunger games? - Justice **


End file.
